


Ride for the Innocent, Burn for the Guilty

by MusicLoversDemon



Category: Ghost Rider (2007), Ghost Rider (Comics), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Author Is Not Religious, BAMF Midoriya Izuku, Canon? Whomst?, Excite Me, Gen, Ghost Rider Midoriya Izuku, Just Messing, Kinda, Midoriya Izuku Does Not Have One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Mess, Mostly Just Chains Though, Nedzu is a Little Shit (My Hero Academia), Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Religious Humor, Religious References, Starts pre-canon, The Author Regrets Nothing, U.A. is a University (My Hero Academia), Vigilante Midoriya Izuku, Whips and Chains, nah, occasionally, slightly op midoriya izuku
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicLoversDemon/pseuds/MusicLoversDemon
Summary: With the Devil returned to Hell, at the hand of one Johnny Blaze, one would think that The Ghost Rider would no longer have a purpose on this earth. Unfortunately, his purpose was never to fight the Devil. Evil was his purpose. To punish the Guilty. And Evil…. Evil wasn’t going anywhere. It coated the earth like a plague. A plague that needed to be burned out.Now, as it turns out, that’s a lot easier than it sounds when the Rider is sane. When Zarathos is himself. Sharing control. Now, even with the Rider accelerating his healing and keeping him alive, Johnny Blaze is mortal. His decelerated aging wasn’t going to last much longer. But you see, the Rider’s work wasn’t done. Zarathos still had innocents to protect. So a decision was made. That power. The Spirit of Justice. He would be passed on like a sacred torch.And so, he was. For nearly 250 years, he was passed down to protect the innocent. But the transfer has an… unforeseen side-effect. With each transfer, the Rider returns to his madness, and must be coaxed back into sanity by each wielder of his power. And now? Now it is Midoriya Izuku’s turn.
Relationships: Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Zarathos, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63





	Ride for the Innocent, Burn for the Guilty

**Author's Note:**

> Hey howdy ho! Yes. I know I probably wasn't going to do a full fic unless you guys asked for it. Well... you guys asked for it. Well, only a few of you did, but with about 240 people (at this time) have seen it, a couple of comments asking for more, and 36 kudos within like... 2 days(?), I'm taking that as a confirmation for me to write a full thing. So, HERE WE GOOO!
> 
> Oh, and I played with a few of the details from the One-Shot. I will probably delete it soon, but you may have noticed that Shiozaki is in 1-A. That was mostly to help introduce The Rider, but now I'm contemplating making this a Team Green kinda ship. Let me know how you feel about that later, but for now, enjoy.

Each Ghost Rider is required to personally form a connection to the immortal power inside and restore its sanity. It can take some time as simply having the spirit inside you forces one to chase down and punish the guilty every night. This, as one can imagine, leads to a number of problems with the human body. First is exhaustion. Blazing through the night at top speed sucks on the energy one is supposed to restore by sleeping. Second is dehydration. As you can imagine, being a burning skeleton for  _ any  _ period of time is extremely taxing on the body’s water reserves. Finally, you’ve got the injuries. Despite being an immortal spirit of vengeance, the Ghost Rider isn’t known for dodging. He usually just powers through the damage and delivers a beatdown. Now, this is great during the actual fighting, but afterwords the human host is left with a significant amount of pain. While the angel does heal the damage, the pain remains for at least the first half of the day.

Now, let’s be clear. Midoriya Izuku wasn’t really thinking about any of this when he accepted the previous Rider’s offer. All he wanted was to be a Hero. Now? Now he’s waking up on the floor of a Church somewhere in the middle of Musutafu with a vine-haired girl standing above him. Of course, as the Quirk nerd that he is, Izuku would usually be asking about a thousand questions about how having vines for hair even works, but right now he is too busy focusing on the way his body feels like he got hit by a truck.

“That’s because you did, Rider.”

His voice croaked with the dry tone of a man rescued from a desert as he nodded. “That’ll do it.” It was at this point that Izuku froze.  _ ‘How did she know?’ _

“The previous Rider often found himself here come morning. He and the Angel were one, but he spent most of his time here. This Church has been friends to The Rider throughout his last three iterations, and now you are the fourth.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as he took in her words and the meanings behind them. They boiled down to one sentence,  _ James told him nothing. _ His eyebrow twitched at the realization, but he couldn’t muster up the energy to even sit up, much less get angry at a dead guy.

Returning his focus to the female face above him, Izuku watched in awed silence as she used a few of her vines to retrieve a glass of water. It was at this point that Izuku noticed that the pews on either side of him were flipped over the ones in front of them. From the door to his current place on the ground, Izuku watched a trail of his own scorched boot prints and knocked over pews. Just outside, literally parked on the steps of the Church, was The Rider’s bike. No.… His bike. It’s his bike now. He received it right alongside The RIder himself.

His head ‘thumped’ against the ground as he dropped it, closing his eyes with a pained expression. “Sorry about the mess…. Didn’t have much control over myself….”

“Don’t worry yourself, Rider. We knew what we were signing up for when we accepted the Angel’s presence in our Church the first time. We were informed that the Angel loses his connection to his sanity with each Transference, wherein he returns to his cruel and destructive state. Here, drink.”

Izuku propped himself up on his elbows with a groan. After a moment’s hesitation, he accepted the offered glass of water, and immediately downed it in one breath. He nearly threw the glass in his attempt to set it down, immediately beckoning for the water pitcher still sitting on the tray behind the vine-haired girl. She only offered a quiet giggle as she slid the pitcher towards him.

As he began to chug the water straight from the pitcher, she sat on her legs, her shins against the ground and her hair swept behind her. “He mentioned something like this. Made a joke of it that I cannot remember. In any case, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Shiozaki Ibara, a member of this Church and designated caretaker of the new Rider. That’s you.”

The pitcher, now empty, was placed on the wooden floor with a shaky grip. Izuku groaned as he made to stand, only to find himself being pulled up by the deceptively strong arms of the vine-haired girl.  _ ‘Shiozaki. Her name is Shiozaki.’ _

Now, there are a few things people usually notice about themselves the moment they regain consciousness. First and foremost being their physical state. Second, their clothes. Izuku had been wearing a pair of flannel shorts when he first felt Zarathos ‘scratching at the door’. As such, you can imagine his surprise when he finds himself wearing an outfit that hadn’t even been present in his closet before this. Leather combat boots, black jeans, a black t-shirt, a leather riding jacket with three studded spikes on each shoulder, and a pair of studded gloves that reached about mid-forearm.

And then there was the matter of how the clothes even fit him. They were fit for the body of a 6’ (182.88cm) tall man with quite a bit more bulk than Izuku remembered having. After all, he was only a 15 year old Quirkless kid. It came as quite a surprise when he stood and found himself to be looking down at everything from a completely different angle. He lifted his hand to his eyes, but found himself suddenly distracted by the vastly different musculature of his arm and chest.

Where before he had stood at 5'5¼" (166 cm) and was at a very average level of fitness, Izuku found himself filling out the new clothes rather nicely. This, as one would imagine, left him with some pressing questions and concerns. The first of which being, “What the  _ Hell _ happened to my body?”

Shiozaki winced at the volume, but held her hands out placatingly. "Well… judging by your reaction… exactly that. Hell. Or rather, hellfire."

Izuku whipped his head around, suddenly having to look down to meet Shiozaki's eyes. "Excuse me? What does  _ that _ mean?"

Izuku's hand, on instinct rather than malicious intent, had lifted into up to meet his chest. Evidently, Shiozaki was paying much more attention than the taller boy, as she rested a gentle hand on his fists, bringing his attention to them. Once his hands were back at his sides, Shiozaki answered his question.

"From what I have learned in my time here, both hellfire and holy fire are capable of many things. One of the things hellfire is capable of explains your current predicament. I think. As I understand it, if Zarathos finds your body unsuitable for work as The Rider, he can utilize the power of his flames to  _ make _ your body suitable…."

Izuku's face was twisted into a rather lost expression. It took nearly a full minute, but eventually he managed to form a sentence again. "My mother would be rolling in her grave if she had one…. I'm not sure if I should be pissed at James for telling me literally nothing, or myself for just accepting for the sake of some childish dream…."

"Childish dream? Surely you don't mean protecting the innocent. That's hardly childish. I myself intend to be a Hero to do that very thing."

Izuku's eyes filled with fire as his gaze shot to Shiozaki's face and venom filled his voice. "Only  _ children _ dream of being a Hero without power."

The fire in his eyes was snuffed out by the shock that took its place.  _ 'What was that? Now she'll hate me and I'lljustgobacktobeingallalone-' _

"I didn't realize…. I apologize. I didn't mean to offend."

"No. No. You're fine. It's not like I have 'Quirkless' tattooed to my forehead. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

"The Rider is already feeding on your anger. That is a sign of a strong bond. You will have to be careful until you learn to control yourself. Even the slightest of irritations are now empowered by the Angel's madness. While your anger feeds him, he boosts its control over you."

"What does  _ that _ mean? Should I be excited about that? And what do you mean 'feeding'? How can he do that and make it affect me?"

Shiozaki leaned forward, her hands on his chest and her eyes searching his own. Her plain dress and shawl caught the breeze coming in through the open door. With the movement dragging his attention away from her face, Izuku was forcefully reminded that he was in a Church, and he didn't know how to get home from here. Or basically anything about what was currently happening.

"James… really didn't tell you anything… did he?" 

Izuku gave the slightest head shake for 'no', his gaze falling to the floor as he set about accepting his fate. "He told me that I would have the chance to protect people. Told me I'd get the chance to be a Hero, and that I'd have to work for it. He didn't tell me that I'd be dragged across the city every night while an immortal spirit uses my body to turn criminals into vegetables. Wait…. Why can I remember that, but not getting hit by a truck?"

Shiozaki's face, as if the sunlight wasn't already giving him a headache, lit up at the mention of human vegetables. Why? Izuku had no clue. "I can answer that one! The Penance Stare, one of The Rider's many abilities, requires a large amount of Zarathos' focus. As such, it allows your consciousness to catch a small amount of what is happening during it."

If at all possible, Izuku looked even more confused than before. "What is a… Penance Stare? Because that sounds kinda awesome but also terrifying."

"That's because it  _ is _ . At least, for the one it is used on. The Penance Stare essentially taps into the soul's memory of its sins, forcing its victim to live through all of their sins against the innocent through their eyes. They are paying their penance in a tried and true method of cleansing one's soul. The Rider does not offer such a chance to murderers or their like, but rather pickpockets and muggers trying to help their families. He may have been tortured into madness, but Zarathos is, first and foremost, an Angel.”

Leaning back as far as possible without falling over, Izuku felt himself having to squint to see through the reverence practically shining off of Shiozaki as she smiled at him. Apparently she found the idea of the guilty being punished to be a pleasant thing. Maybe a hint at a sadistic side?

Izuku took a step back, placing him firmly in the shadows, and immediately felt a distinct feeling of ‘calm’ settle over him. Looking to his hands, Izuku turned them over and flexed his fingers as if that would answer his questions. Tentatively extending his hand back into the sunlight, Izuku felt the difference near instantaneously. There was a sort of… unrest that came with the light. In this moment, before pulling his hand back into the shadows, he was perfectly capable of claiming that the hand wasn’t his own. He looked to Shiozaki for an answer, and was met with a sad smile.

“The Rider likes the dark places…. You will find comfort there. Despite his status as an Angel, he does not feel welcome in the Lord’s light, and neither will you so long as Zarathos is with you.”

Letting out a slow sigh, Izuku stepped further into the shadows and sat on the cold wooden floor. “Good thing I don’t have any friends. Won’t have to explain why I don’t feel like hanging out in the sun. Hopefully nobody will notice the sudden change of my size and shape, but I’ve never had that kinda luck.”

The vine-haired girl tilted her head to the side as she lowered herself to the floor in front of him, enveloped in the light pouring through the open doors. “What do you mean, Rider? Surely, if you have no friends then there will be noone to notice?”

The defeated look on his face only grew deeper as he gestured towards himself. “How old do you think I am, Shiozaki?”

“You look young, but I doubt your body changed too much. I’m going to say that you look to be around twenty years old.”

He let out a huff of air through his nose, bringing up a hand to rub at his eyes. After a moment of silence, Izuku let out another sigh before speaking. “I’m fifteen, Shiozaki. I want to apply to U.A. University in three years. I’m also Quirkless, and currently in school. I’m picked on and beat up daily. It would be impossible for them to not notice that I’ve suddenly grown over half a foot. Also, my name is Midoriya. Midoriya Izuku. And from here on out, I’m gonna need your help. I don’t have anyone else. That means that you are the only human connection I have on this earth.”

“That… is incredibly distressing. Your entire situation is less than ideal…. I may have a solution though. Come to my place of learning. We can be nearer to each other so that I can help whenever you need, and nobody will know you. Your problems will be solved!”

“Still Quirkless. People don’t much care for us Quirkless people. It’s a very Darwinian world. Survival of the Fittest and all that. In a world of powered people, I don’t have one. Those with even the weakest of Quirks can look down on me all they like, and I can’t do anything about it. People are cruel, and that won’t be changing anytime soon.”

“But you  _ do _ have power! You hold within you a spirit capable of controlling fire in all forms and simply shrugging off damage through sheer force of will.”

“No.  _ I _ don’t have any power.  _ I _ can’t do any of that. That’s The Rider. It may be my body, but it isn’t my mind or power.”

“Johnny Blaze, one of the most well known Riders, was said to be capable of controlling flames over two-hundred and fifty years ago. How do you know you cannot? You have yet to try.”

Izuku felt himself standing before he knew what he was doing. “I can feel The Rider in me, but he doesn’t seem like the type to offer some stranger his power. I’ll do some research later, but for now I have to figure out where home is so I can figure out what I should do. If today was any indication, I’ll be seeing you in the morning. We can talk more then. For now, I’m going to try and figure out why I know I can ride a motorcycle when I’ve never even touched one before.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, as you may have noticed, this Chapter was mostly setup and dialogue. It wasn't really on purpose, but it is what it is. I know that some of you are really excited about this fic, and I like that, but I'm going to be trying to take this one a bit slower than my others. I want to really have it thought out and properly paced as I post it so that it doesn't seem rushed.
> 
> I am not really sure how this came out, so let me know in the comments. I want criticism, questions, thoughts, ideas. Anything. I like interacting with those of you that actually read these. Anywho, thanks for reading and enjoy your day!


End file.
